The red-hot industrial market knows no bounds.
The latest example is RREEF Funds’s acquisition of a 484,624-square-foot industrial portfolio on behalf of the California Public Employees Retirement System for about $28 million. The purchase includes properties in Irwindale, Azusa and Sun Valley that were developed by Cal Mat Properties.
“We thought it was an excellent opportunity to buy quality industrial product in two significant submarkets (where it’s) hard to find,” said Scott Stuckman, vice president of acquisitions for RREEF in San Francisco.
CalPERS has other industrial holdings in Los Angeles, but was not strong in the Sun Valley or Irwindale areas, where vacancies are estimated to be only 3 to 4 percent.
Built in the 1980s, the concrete tilt-up buildings are in business park settings and leased to various manufacturing and warehousing operations, said Barbara Emmons, a broker at CB Richard Ellis who represented both sides in the deal along with CB broker Darla Longo.
Cal Mat, which was bought by Vulcan Materials, decided to sell off its real estate assets that were not associated with its core business of sand and gravel production, Emmons said.
Cal Mat is also selling property it had mined in Irwindale to Trammell Crow Co., which plans to build 1 million square feet of spec industrial space.
Encino shakeup
The Encino office of brokerage Sperry Van Ness Investment Brokerage Services Inc. is shutting down.
Raffi Krikorian, managing partner at the office, issued a statement saying that he will oversee completion of its pending transactions and other remaining business.
In the past few months, the office workforce has dwindled from 34 to less than 12 as brokers joined competing firms. The closure is the latest chapter in a dispute that goes back a couple of years.
In March, the partnership that paid Sperry Van Ness for use of its name and the right to operate within the firm’s network filed suit in L.A. Superior Court against Sperry Van Ness, seeking more than $1.5 million in damages.
According to the complaint, Sperry Van Ness had a 25.5 percent ownership interest in the Encino office and collected 8 percent of its gross revenues.
But Krikorian objected to the fee as excessive in light of alleged breaches in the management agreement between the parties specifically, that Sperry Van Ness provided a faulty interoffice computer network and didn’t adequately train employees, among other things.
The suit says that Sperry Van Ness ignored complaints by the Encino partnership, announced a plan to open competing offices in West L.A. and Pasadena, and solicited employees to work there.
The partnership then agreed to purchase the interest held by Sperry Van Ness and got Charles Dunn Co. to be the majority purchaser of the office. But according to the suit, Sperry Van Ness “sabotaged” the negotiations and Dunn withdrew from the buyer group.
Mark Van Ness, chief executive officer of Sperry Van Ness, denied those allegations. He said his corporation filed an earlier suit claiming the Encino office defaulted on fees owed for use of the name.
Burbank news
The Burbank Planning Board approved Regent Properties’ Burbank Plaza proposal, which includes a hotel, offices, art house movie theater, Masonic Lodge, two parking structures and retail space at the site of the former police headquarters.
The 480,000-square-foot project is planned for an entire block bounded by Olive and Angeleno avenues, Third Street and San Fernando Boulevard. Regent is close to a deal with Marriott to be the hotel operator.
High-definition lease
Performance Post Inc., a 15-year-old video post-production company, is set to more than double its quarters in a move to expand into the high-definition arena.
The company signed a seven-year lease valued at more than $3 million for 18,000 square feet at 4130 Cahuenga Blvd. in North Hollywood. The move from its current 7,000-square-foot quarters in Hollywood is part of a multimillion-dollar investment to add high-definition post-production technology to its lineup of traditional equipment.
“We’re adding more functionality and more services and rooms as we go,” said Fausto Sanchez, president of Performance Post.
Robert Erickson, Trevor Belden and Matthew Cusumano of Lee & Associates represented the landlord, and Stacy Vierheilig-Fraser of Charles Dunn Co. represented Performance Post.
Cruising north
Princess Cruises has signed a 15-year, $65 million lease in the Town Center area of Valencia, where it will move from its corporate headquarters in Century City.
The deal will allow the cruise line to expand from its 108,000-square-foot existing offices to 163,000 square feet of offices in two new buildings being constructed by Newhall Land and Farming Co.
John C. Cushman III, Andrew Ratner and Michael Burlant of Cushman Realty Corp. represented Princess in the transaction. Cushman said it’s the largest corporate headquarters relocation ever to the Valencia area. A total of 1,500 employees will be based there when the new headquarters is completed in the spring.
News & notes
There’s a 61,000-square-foot block of space immediately available at MGM Plaza under a seven-year sublease, said Matthew Miller of Cresa Partners, who is handling it. Miller said the space is leased to Rysher Entertainment, which no longer needs the space
After looking at various buildings, New Line Cinema opted to stay put at 120 N. Robertson Blvd., where it has long had offices in the Pacific Theatres building. New Line renewed and expanded its lease to 50,000 square feet.
Elizabeth Hayes can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 229.
